Don’t get tricked — let them have a treat.
Parents who think they’re doing a good thing by curbing their child’s Halloween candy intake could wind up causing a lot more harm than the average tummy ache from too much chocolate, an expert warns.
Psychologist Dr. Sheryl Ziegler warned that nutrition-minded moms and dads who micromanage — for example, the so-called “almond moms” who obsess over every kiddie calorie — could actually be damaging their child’s mental health.
“We have to be really careful in today’s times to really not be pushing because you want to be skinny or you want to look a certain way or you want close to fit a certain way,” she told 9News.
“It can make them anxious. It can make them self-conscious — have low self-esteem.”
Kids are now the recipients of a lot of unhealthy programming regarding their wellbeing, according to Ziegler.
“It’s sort of taking health and health and fitness even and making it so extreme that now you’ve got kids who are truly developing pretty much a disordered eating situation,” she said.
On top of that, in situations where kids go to other houses with more lax approaches to snacks — or perhaps even an unsupervised trick-or-treating session — “those kids want to gorge themselves.”
Instead, Ziegler suggests taking a pragmatic approach that’s much more in the middle of the road so that you “focus on health” over image.
When it comes to eating, parents should think in terms of “How do you feel? Are you able to do the sports that you want to do? Are you able to think as clearly and as quickly as you want to in the classroom?” she said.
“That’s really big.”
Additionally, she supports the idea of letting kids know that treats and sweets are okay on special occasions — such as Halloween or birthdays — and at the right dosage as opposed to a stern shutdown with no leeway to caloric goodies.
“You want to create that sense of like, nothing is forbidden,” said Ziegler.
“Everything just needs to be done in moderation. “